Since my birthday will be coming up later this week, let’s just start celebrating now with an out of turn extra post on Monday. Huzzah! Plus I really want to show you the finished Obliterator, so we all win 😉

Anyway, since the last update, I finally added the shoulder pads to the model, added quite a few additional painting touches – not all of them really all that noticeable, unfortunately – and completed the model’s base.

So, with everything in its right place, I now call this model finished. Take a look:

As you can see, I also added some “last minute bitz”, since some fellow hobbyists suggested that the model needed some kind of loincloth or tabard. A normal loincloth was out, though, because I did want to keep at least parts of the pelvis area visible, not as a strange kind of fixation on Obliterator junk, mind you, but rather because the fact that the pelvis is designed to strongly resemble that of the new Helbrute is a really cool touch. So, in the end, I went for a rather cool bone trophy from the WFB Vampire Counts Skeletons.

I also added some small plates to the shoulders to cover up the slightly awkward area where the arms meet the torso. And finally, let me show you a closer look at the model’s back, both for the brilliantly gruesome spine emerging from the Obliterator’s armour and for the additions I made there:

It felt like the rathe huge, empty area to the left and right of the spine needed some additional detailing, so I added two chains from the WFB Chaos Chariot kit, making them look like they were being used in order to hold the Obliterator’s armour plates in place.

All in all, I am really extremely happy with this model! I think the custom and standard GW parts are blended together much better than I had anticipated, without looking hastily slapped together. The model is also rather massive and not quite as covered in random fleshy bitz as the stock GW models.

I really couldn’t be any happier with this guy, to tell you the truth, and I am really extremely thankful to thamier for providing the awesome custom Obliterator bitz that went into the model’s creation! And thanks as well to all those who provided helpful suggestions and criticism during the model’s completion! In fact, my only fear is that I will now be unable to return to any non-thamier-pattern Obliterator models or conversions…

Oh, and of course I also produced a suitable little background vignette for the model. Take a look:

Hadrak Firebringer

He appeared in a flash of light, immense even in his crouched position. With the noise of grinding metal, he rose to his full height, the hoarfrost of void teleportation trickling off his armour.

The battlefield lay ahead of him as an endless grey expanse. One by one, his brothers appeared. He could feel their spirits through mind link, feel their hunger. The sizzle of the nails, surgically changed in nature, yet not in intensity, a constant buzz that would soon grow into an all-consuming fire.Before him, countless red target markers flared into life and gave him purpose. The hunt began.Advance!
His command remained unspoken, issued only via mind link, yet the hulking shapes of his brothers began to move as one. They advanced across the grey plain, slow but relentless, sending a hail of fire towards the enemy lines. He was dimly aware of figures running past them: the fleshkin. But they were unimportant, insubstantial almost. More a nuisance than anything, making the task of calculating trajectories and fire corridors more difficult than it needed to be.

A blast from his Lascannon caught an enemy tank, making the vehicle explode in an enormous fire ball. First blood to them. The nails rewarded him with a wash of adrenaline, and beyond that, he could feel the dark joy of his brothers, shared through the bond that connected them.The enemy returned fire, but the pinpricks merely burned new scorch marks into his ancient, pitted armour. He and his brothers shared a moment of derisive amusement. Then they returned fire, and watched another score of target markers flicker out of existence. The nails drove them onwards, promising a reward that never came. But it did not matter. All that mattered was fire and heat and destruction and death.

It was over too soon. It always was.

A figure appeared before him, laughably small to his eyes. Yet he could make out the red and bronze armour. The badge of the XIIth legion. His legion. The figure addressed him, looking up at him through a snarling Sarum pattern helmet:

“I salute you hunter! You have hunted well, but your work here is done. Deactivate your weapons and await extraction.”

A targeting marker appeared over the legionary, flaring from green to red and back to green. One impulse, one tiny movement was all it would take to give the nails their due. He could feel his brothers’ anticipation and the nails knifing into the meat of his mind. Red and green. Red and green.
“I repeat. Deactivate your weapons.”
With a mind impulse, he powered down his weapons and disengaged the targeting lock. The nails pulsed hot in his mind, punishing his hesitation with a white hot lance of pain. And beyond that, he could also feel something from his brothers – disappointment? Disapproval? He focused on the fleshkin before him, seeing the legionary as if for the first time. It seemed as if the he allowed himself to relax now. Was that relief?
“Compliance”, he growled at last.

Maybe this should actually rather be part 2.5 of this mini-series, but I am pretty hard at work on the converted Obliterator at the moment, and I thought it would be cool to just show you the model’s current status:

Here’s the – mostly finished – body:

I was initially slightly apprehensive about the slightly rubbery texture of the resin thamier used for casting the parts, as I feared the material might be problematic to paint. It turned out that my worries were entirely unfounded, though — in fact I was pleasantly surprised with painting thamier’s custom parts: They accepted the colour without a hitch and were really almost as easy to paint as stock GW parts.

In any case, I was happy enough with the result to immediately start working on the arms as well, so here’s the model as it looks like right now, with both arms attached:

The model’s still missing its shoulder pads, base and a ton of finishing touches, of course, but I am enormously pleased with it so far. So I thought I’d just share my progress. Expect to see the finished Obliterator rather soon 😉

Anyway, let me know what you think! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Another upate on my World Eaters related projects today, because the last weekend has been spent happily kitbashing away at various evil, spiky and bloodthirsty things 😉

First up, an update on the big guy: Since I first posted my WIP “Thamier pattern” Obliterator, I have spent some more time working on the model, cleaning up the conversion and preparing the model for painting:

Here’s what the Obliterator looked like before:

Since this picture was taken, I have added another round of spiky bitz, worked a bit on the right foot in order to make it look more natural and plugged all remaining holes and crevices with GS. So here’s the model, pretty much ready for a last bubble bath and then some paint:

I also realised that the model needed something to clearly show its allegiance to Khorne, but regular bunny ears were right out due to a lack of space around the collar. So I improvised, using an icon of Khorne instead (an idea stolen from the ever inspirational Wayde Pryce). I also tried yet another head, although I might actually like this one the best so far: It just has a subtly feral quality that I think really fits the bill.

All in all, I am really pleased with this conversion, and I hope that the paintjob will turn the model into a truly awesome piece — now to work up the motivation to actually get painting…

The big guy was not my only project, though: Working on that Helbrute rocket launcher also gave me the motivation to try something I had been thinking about for quite a while: Building an Ursus Claw for my Chaos Helbrute(s).

For those not in the know, an Ursus Claw is a weapons system typical of the World Eaters Legion: It is effectively a harpoon that can be fired at an opponent (preferredly a retreating one), in order to impale him, possibly already creating critical damage, and then reel him back in for the finale. The World Eaters used this weapon system both on their flagship, the Conqueror and on the allied Titans of the Legio Audax, so I thought arming a World Eaters Dreadnought with one of those systems probably wasn’t all that unrealistic. More on the Ursus Claw here, in case you are interested.

Now when I started planning this conversion, I looked around for inspiration and found this image, nestled away deep within my inspiration folder. Unfortunately, the original source has been lost, and I have been unable to retrieve it, so if you recognise your work, definitely let me know!

EDIT: The mystery has been solved: The picture below came from fellow hobbyist sheep. Check out his amazing Khornate models on his blog. Thanks a lot, sheep, for coming forward!

conversion by sheep

The picture actually provided a perfect starting point for my conversion: The psy-weapon CC arm from the Furioso Dreadnought kit. And since Marax the Fallen had been converted from that very kit, I still happened to have the arm in my bitzbox.

The second piece of inspiration came from Forgeworld’s Blood Slaughterer Impaler, because that model is, for all intents and purposes, armed with an Ursus Claw as well. Take a look:

image by Forgeworld

The weapon gave me a pretty good idea for building the chain winch that makes for the truly nasty part of the weapon, allowing the harpoon to be reeled back in.

So with those two ideas in my head and a couple of bitz on my table, I got to work.

As you can see, the arm is pretty much the stock bit, whereas the harpoon mechanism is a combination of the two sources cited above. I fortunately had a perfect chain winch bit from some Ogre Kingdoms kit in my bitzbox, and it was ideal for this conversion. The chain came from another Ogre kit. The housing for the winch is a shaved down part of a Predator Lascannon turret weapon. And, to make things suitably chaotic and to tie in the weapon with the look and feel of my army, the housing was decorated using two Chaos Marauder shields.

Here’s the weapon arm on its own:

One thing I kept going back and forth on is the actual harpoon, because I wasn’t sure whether it needed to be more ostentatious and/or claw like, like the one on the Blood Slaughterer. In the end, though, I decided that a more clawlike appearance would mean that it would be harder to actually recognise the weapon as a harpoon constructed to be launched at the enemy, so I stuck with the simpler design — what do you think?

Anyway, once this Ursus Claw and the kitbashed rocket launcher arm are painted, I will have a pretty exhaustive collection of Dreadnought/Helbrute weapons — as a matter of fact, I built this last arm mostly for fun anyway, rather than for added tactical flexibility. Still, I think it’ a fairly cool option for featuring an element from the World Eaters’ recent fluff in my army!

And finally, one last model to show you: A rather simple kitbash at that, but one I am still rather happy with.

When I picked up my brand new Dark Vengeance boxed set, back when 6th edition hit, I realised the nose of the Chosen champ had been flattened a bit by the sprue of stuff lying above it in the box. So I have wanted to “repair” the model for a long time now. So during an idle hour, I carefully cut off the head and replaced it with one from the FW Space Marine Praetor. I also replaced the maul with a sword, while I was at it. Tale a look:

Both the head and maul were kept intact as much as possible during the cutting, and both will be used on further conversions. As it happens, the head was used on the kitbashed INQ28 Navigator I showed you recently. I think the flattened nose could be explained away as yet another manifestation of the Navigator’s physcial deformity.

Fellow hobbyist dantay_XV pointed out that the model’s calm stare and raised sword worked together quite well, making it look like he was just about to swing the sword forward and give his warriors the command to unleash hell. That was exactly the intended effect, as a matter of fact, and I think that this model will eventually be the Huntmaster in command of the 4th assault company’s Havocs (Teeth of Khorne, in the old fluff), so the pose works doubly well, if you ask me.

So yeah, so much for the World Eaters side of things. As always, let me know what you think — and look forward to some more INQ28 madness pretty soon.

Good news, everyone: Since the stifling heat has let up a bit, I am back to my usual state of semi-productivity 😉 Anyway, I promised you a more substantial update in my last post, and you shall have it!

I mentioned that a couple of fellow hobbyists have recently sent me some pretty nifty stuff, and today’s update will deal with the first of the projects to come out of this latest supply drop.

First up, PDH provided me with an absolutely massive package of bitz and left me truly staggered by so much generosity! Ungrateful git that I am, I only have a fairly meagre first project to show for it yet: I finally started building the last Dreadnought/Helbrute weapon still missing from my collection, transforming a stock Dreadnought rocket launcer Peter had sent me into its suitably chaotic counterpart:

Certainly nothing mind blowing, but rather a nice and simple bit of kitbashing that eased me back into the regular flow of things — still, having an entire set of fully exchangeable weapons for my Chaos Helbrutes will feel enormously pleasing once it has finally been accomplished 😉

But the rocket launcher is not really the star of the show today. That role falls to the second model I would like to show you. So, what is this about?

You may remember that my attempt at coming up with some Obliterators that didn’t look like Chaos Terminators covered in meat wastes turned into a rather protracted conversion project (chronicled, for instance, here and here). I ended up with three custom Obliterators that I was reasonably happy with. These:

Some of you may already have been wondering why I hadn’t yet managed to get these painted. The reason, apart from my egregious lack of painting discipline, is that fate intervened and I discovered a recipe for building Obliterators that I liked even better:

Thamier’s wonderful Balefire Legionhas been a constant source of inspiration. But what really blew me away more than anything else was his approach to sculpting and kitbashing his own, completely customised Obliterators (whose creation you can witness starting here)!

Maybe the best part about these is that while they are perfectly in line with the look and feel of GW’s other chaos models (almost moreso than the official Obliterators, in fact), they forego the fleshy, mutated look in favour of something more mechanical and imposing. Take a look:

Obliterator built and painted by Thamier

I was really blown away by the sheer awesomness of these models, but alas I could only gaze at them from afar and hope that one day I might be able to come up with something just as cool.

Well, that day may have come, because – while Thamier only made these awesome bitz for use in his own army – I was actually lucky enough to get my hands on some of them as part of a bitz swap between the two of us. This is a really exciting opportunity, of course, so it goes without saying that I immediately started assembling my very own “Thamier pattern” Obliterator.

Now Thamier had warned me in advance that the castings weren’t of the best quality, and that the parts would require some work. And indeed, there was quite a bit of flash to be scraped off. But all in all, the parts really cleaned up rather nicely. Here’s a look at the cleaned and prepared parts for the Obliterator:

custom Obliterator parts sculpted by Thamier

As you can see, a full set consists of a torso (in two halves, in fact), a pelvis, two thighs, two (rather massive) lower legs and two feet. The parts were cast from Thamier’s original master model, as far as I am aware, and considering the pieces have been entirely sculpted from scratch, the amount of detail is rather nice. Of course these are not as crisp and cutting edge as a factory-made GW kit, but I am in fact even more impressed with the sculpting that went into these after having made some first hand experiences with the parts: Not only do they take all the right design cues from GW’s own chaos models, but they also come with amazing little touches like the profile on the Obliterator’s armoured boot:

custom Obliterator parts sculpted by Thamier

That is true dedication, ladies and gentlemen 😉

Like I said, scraping off the flash wasn’t a big problem, and even a bit of rough texture or damage here and there actually work towards the effect that these guys are ancient veterans of the Long War, so no problem there.

Here’s my first mockup of the whole model:

As you can see, the model is really rather massive, which makes it clear that this guy is not just any standard chaos Terminator. And while the overall shape and construction may recall Tactical Dreadnought Armour, there are several visual shout outs to the new Helbrute design, like the armour panels to the side of the head, the slightly more elaborate armour trim and, of course, the pelvis area that looks very similar to that of the Helbrute.

I used a Warp Talon head as a placeholder, which should show you that the sculpted torso will accept pretty much any (Chaos) Space Marine or Chaos Warrior head without a hitch. The comparison should also give you a rather good idea of the model’s rather impressive size and bulk!

Working from there, I had to get a bit creative, because – unlike Thamier – I cannot sculpt for toffee. So where Thamier sculpted his own upper arms and shoulder pads, I defaulted back to my usual approach and solution to any hobby problem — glorious kitbashing! 😉

In this case, though, the task of actually finding suitable arms that scaled correctly with the rest of the body almost drove me crazy: While natural looking proportions are not exactly a priority for a hulking monster like this, many arm setups that seemed promising ended up looking too short and undermining the sense of threat given off by the model.

In the end, the solution was found in the most unlikely of places: I was messing around with the magma cutter bitz from the fiend kit when I realised that these could actually work as arms for the Obliterator! So I combined them with some Chaos Terminator fists and a couple of leftover Centurion weapons (it’s a good thing you get LOTS of leftover weapons with the Centurion kit), and my Obliterator really took shape. Take a look:

As you can plainly see, I took a lot of inspiration from Thamier’s painted model shown further up in this post, but then I thought it looked really awesome and wanted to replicate some of that coolness 😉

For the shoulder pads, I chose Centurion pads, as you can see. I also added some Ogre armour plates to the hips to bulk out the model’s middle a bit. As an added benefit, these will also create some visual consistency if I ever want to use this big guy alongside my converted Centurions, as they are using the same armour plates for decoration.

I still needed to bulk out the upper arms, since they were looking a little scrawny. Plus the clean and loyalist shoulder pads needed some chaotic love as well. So I added another round of bitz, and here’s where the model stands at the moment:

While some additional cleanup along with a spiky bit here and there may be required, I am really rather happy with this guy! I think the design works really well as a less-mutated but really impressive and utterly chaotic Obliterator! And I am also reasonably pleased with the solution I came up with for the arms!

One thing I need to point out again is that this guy is absolutely MASSIVE, with much more bulk than a regular Terminator. In fact, like I said, he’s the perfect missing link between Terminators and Helbrutes, not only in design but also in height and bulk.

Provided the temperature outside stays agreeable enough, I hope to be able to paint his guy rather soon. Afterwards, I’ll have to consider which way to go with my overall strategy for the Obliterators: Will this veritable beast be used as a “unit champion” of sorts, leading the other, Centurion-based Obliterators into battle? Or will I become so addicted to the Thamier-pattern that any other kind of Obliterator just seems like a cheap travesty to me?

For now, I’ll just try to build the biggest, baddest Obliterator imaginable. Thanks so much to Thamier for letting me have some of those bitz to mess around with! And if any of you have any suggestions or criticism about this guy, let me know!

Another week, and I am still happily slicing and shaving my way through the Centurion kit in an attempt to build a squad of three counts as Obliterators for my World Eaters. I do of course realise that you have been seeing quite a bit of this particular endeavour, but in all fairness, it has been a rather complex conversion project to pull off.

So, today I will show you a look at both the updated models you already know as well as the third and final member of my “Behemoths”

First up, I have finally managed to find a solution for the last thing I wanted to add to my Behemoth models: the clawed feet. After having experimented with numerous options to add some claws to the Centurion feet without having the whole thing end up looking ridiculous, I tried using the claws from Warp Talon feet. And while this element was mainly an attempt to make the models look less loyalist and more brutal, seeing how those talons make the feet look better proportioned as well for some reason really was a nice surprise! So it goes without saying that I picked up that element for the rest of the squad as well.

Here are the two models you already know, complete with clawed feet and all:

These are pretty much 100% finished at this point, and I hope I’ll get around to painting one of them soon.

But, like I already said above, I couldn’t help myself and had to start working on the third model. Here are some WIP impressions:

The body came together fairly easily: The Centurions are a rather complex kit, but after putting together two or three of them, you basically know the drill — hence the title of this post! 😉 Once again, I added some additional armour plates and some sinister detail in order to make the model look like a member of the traitor legions.

I also added some chest-mounted plasma pistols at the suggestion of fellow hobbyist meade over at Dakka:

“Plasma nipples”, he called them. Some people… 😉

The next step was to sort out the arms, and I once again tried to use two different weapons in order to represent the Behemoth’s versatile armament:

A stock lascannon from the Centurion kit ended up on the left arm — and might have to be decorated with some suitably chaotic bitz. The right arm wields a Plasma cannon (converted from the Dark Vengeance Plasma gunner’s weapon and a couple of bitz).

Since the weapon couldn’t be made to use the same points of attachment as the stock Centurion weapons, I had to improvise slightly. This was also the one instance where I needed to build my own cabling instead of relying on the stock parts that came with the Centurions, and it was more work than it had any right to be. This is also why the cables turn into a horrible, spiky Talos spine somewhere along the way:

All in all, though, I am really rather happy with how these conversions have turned out: At long last, I have a squad of Obliterators that actually fits the overall theme of my army. That said, I really don’t see myself getting another box of these: The kit is great and building these models has been an interesting experience, but the Centurions as a kit are just slightly too complex for wanting to build lots and lots of them.

The next step, obviously, will be to paint up a first test model for the squad. I also really want to see one of these guys painted at last, so let’s hope I’ll be able to give you an update on the progress soon. Until then, you’re always welcome share any feedback or criticism you might have!

I am still working on my Centurion-based Obliterators — in all fairness, I did warn you beforehand that this would likely turn out to be a rather extensive project 😉

The good news is that, after having figured out a basic recipe for turning the stock Centurions into suitable Obliterators, the second model went together quite a bit faster than the first: I already roughly knew beforehand which elements I was going to use to make the model look more chaotic, so assembling the legs and torso was reasonably easy work this time:

As you can see, I kept several of the elements that had worked on the test model, using the tried and tested bunny ears as well as the additional horn on the forehead. I also used some more armour plates cut from Ogre fists for a more archaic look, although I positioned them slightly differently this time around. The bandolier of skulls was replaced with a beastman trophy skull, and instead of a chain tabard I used a loincloth (again from the Chaos Lord in Terminator armour, though). Since this mode had a more dynamic pose, I tried to match the loincloth to the forwards movement of the legs.

I also stole Biohazard’s very cool idea for chest mounted flamers, even though it’s not all that easy to make out in the photograph above.

Here’s a photo of the model’s early build together with my first Behemoth:

Once again, the next step was to add the arms and weapons. My original plan was to arm the model with a Lascannon on the left and a heavy flamer on the right arm. A suitable lascannon came with the Centurion parts, so I was at liberty to spend more time kitbashing a custom heavy flamer from a siege drill housing and a Terminator heavy flamer:

This also made me realise that the siege drill housings can basically be turned into any weapon you desire by just adding some new barrels and some additional bits. At the very least, my flamer above (complete with added meltagun on top) turned out reasonably convincing, don’t you think?

Unfortunately, though, when added to the actual model, it ended up looking far too cumbersome, even for the impressive frame of a Centurion/Behemoth. We live and learn…

So a change of plans was in order: The Lascannon originally intended for the left arm was moved to the right instead, and the left arm received a converted assault cannon (built by combining a Centurion heavy bolter anda gun barrel from a Heldrake’s weapon, no less).

Here’s the model with both arms:

As a matter of fact, I am tempted to call the changed weapons a lucky coincidence, since the assault cannon really works rather well with the pose of the left arm. As you can see, I also added some more bitz (and the beastman skull received another horn; the mono-horn look was far too Slaaneshi for my taste). So while the model may still be a little rough around the edges, I am prepared to call the basic setup a success.

I also experimented with yet another Ogre fist from the Mournfang Cavalry kit:

I really like the result so far!

While I was at it, I also took another photo of the first test model:

With two of the conversions now mostly finished, I think these will make for rather convincing Obliterators: At the very least, they’ll be a much better match for the rest of my army than the fleshy, bloated stock models! And they do look pretty badass together!

Putting quite a bit of time into working with the Centurion kit has also had the nice side effect of discovering the great conversions done by other people! Though the Centurions don’t seem to be all that popular at the moment, people like Dave Taylor, migsula, Biohazard or candleshoes are really putting the kit through its moves! I did a more detailed writeup about the cool conversions I have discovered so far over on Dark Future Gaming, and you are very welcome to check it out, in case you are interested!

And of course, I am always interested in hearing your opinion, so let me know what you think of this newest WIP model!

Even while I was spending time salivating over the new Dark Elves, work on my Centurion conversions continued unabated, of course. Since I last showed you my “Behemoth” test model last week, I undertook a continuous process of trial and error to figure out the best basic template for turning a Centurion into a counts as Obliterator for Khorne’s Eternal Hunt.

Just to remind you, here’s where we left off last time:

The ogre armour plates on the upper legs were a winner, so they stayed. But most of all, the time had come to build an actual left arm for the model. Since I wanted to represent the Obliterators’ ability of using different weapons each turn, I decided to give each of my Behemoths two main weapons. In this case, I chose a Multimelta to complement the Autocannon on the right arm. I also tried a number of additional bitz on the model in order to settle on a final look:

The multimelta was built by adding some melta barrels to one of the siege drill weapons from the kit. I also added a flamer in the intended spot, although that ended up looking slightly over the top… As you can see, I also experimented with some additional bitz: The marauder shield was replaced with a chain tabard, and a blade/horn from the Mournfang Cavalry was added to the model’s helmet — while I liked the look that resulted from that, the blade did seem a little clunky, though.

Here’s a comparison shot with one of my Terminators to show you how massive the Behemoth will be:

Some feedback over on Dakka and ToS helped me to further refine my recipe: Biohazard suggesed adding an additional armour plate on top of the chain tabard (which I did), and I also replaced the huge blade on the nose with a smaller horn:

I also added a trophy rack, which I am not really sure about: On the one hand, it makes the model look even more clunky, but on the other hand, if ever there was a squad of ponderous, clunky giants, it’s going to be this one, right?

In any case, and give or take a few bitz, I am fairly confident that I have managed to find the basic template for my Behemoths. Ladies and Gentlemen:

TheBehemoth pattern heavy fire support suit

Even in an army as focused on combat at close quarters as the World Eaters‘ 4th assault company, there are those who hunt by different means. Those brothers of the company are called the Behemoths, and they are an enigma to even their brethren.

During the Great Crusade, the armies of the Legiones Astartes were faced with an ever increasing number of deadly adversaries. Often enough, wars were only to be won by attrition, and the head-on assaults led by the death seeking Primarch Angron were threatening to bleed the 12th Astartes legion dry before long. While Angron seemed oblivious or even indifferent towards such concerns, there were those among his officers who sought a more balanced kind of warfare, at least until the bite of their Butcher’s Nails consumed the remnants of their sanity.

It is said that, during this time, First Apothecary Fabrikus himself experimented on a number of battle brothers, trying to adapt their cranial implants to a different kind of fight. These warriors were outfitted with heavy combat suits, almost on par with the fabled Dreadnoughts. Their suits were equipped with a plethora of heavy weapons, and where the regular World Eaters would throw themselves at the enemy with wild abandon, the so-called Behemoth squads would hang back and lay down a barrage of heavy fire. For Fabrikus had changed the battle brothers’ minds yet again, hardwiring their implants to their weapons systems. The members of the Behemoth squads started to find grim joy in killing, just like the rest of their legion, but the greatest joy for them was to pick out enemies from afar, tearing through flesh and steel alike with bursts of laser fire and plasma, and seeing a red marker turning green in their targeting recticles.

The Behemoths remained a highly experimental unit that only saw limited use during the Crusade and subsequent Heresy: The weapons systems they were outfitted with proved too difficult to maintain during the arduous campaigns, and Angron would always favour a more hands-on approach. Only few of the valuable suits have endured over the millennia, and only those warbands of the XIIth Astartes legion who still count a Warpsmith or Dark Mechanicus ally among their numbers can hope to make any kind of use of this hallowed equipment. For most members of the World Eaters, the kind of warfare exemplified by the Behemoth squads remains forever beyond their reach, replaced by frenzy and costly head-on assaults. Yet within the ranks of the 4th assault company, some of the Behemoths have endured, and in Khorne’s Eternal Hunt, have become hunters in their own right.

These frightening giants still fill the role of heavy fire support, yet the long centuries and millennia have wrought havoc upon their minds: Growing ever more divorced from their humanity, Behemoths are more machine than man, gripped by a tranquil fury where their regular brethren are frenzied. They can only perceive life through their targeting systems, and each situation becomes an equation that can only be solved by heavy fire. They tend to see living beings as either targets or inconsequential elements, even referring to their battle brothers as “fleshkin”.

When away from the battlefield, the Behemoths are normally content to spent time in deep, deathlike sleep. They dream of worlds burning and planets shattering under a barrage of heavy fire, while the other members of the company take relief in the knowledge that their troubled brethren are not at large. Even in an army of frenzied killers, the Behemoths are perhaps the most inhuman of all, since for them life and death are the only variables at any given time, and death is always the preferable outcome…

So yeah, this will be my basic approach for the rest of the squad and the vibe I am going for. Here’s the basically finished test model for you:

After looking at Biohazard’s awesome Centurion conversion, my own model was extended slightly more at the waist, and I think the visible waist improves the overall proportions. I believe I won’t try to cram any more weapons onto the model, going with two main weapons for each member of the squad. Some chains and spikes may yet be added, and I’ll maybe rethink the use of the Marauder shield on the right hand: Another option would be to use some of the very cool Ogre fists that come with the Mournfang Cavalry:

Once again, the imagery of the Great Maw makes for very convincing World Eaters symbols, don’t you think? I only have very few of these, unfortunately, so I can only use them very sparingly.

I am also considering leaving off the hydraulic struts on the sides of the legs, because I really don’t like their look. The ones on back of the feet are great, though, because they look so similar to the Dreadknight (or, in my case, Wargrinder) legs. Oh, and on a related note, you should also check out Candleshoes’ “Contemptor Centurion” over at The Bolter and Chainsword: also a very awesome project, although it’s not the look I need for my own models.

In any case, I am looking forward to beginning work on the next model. The next Behemoth will be armed with an assault cannon and a heavy flamer, methinks. Or a Plasma cannnon? I’ll keep you posted 😉

A quote:

You fools! Your gods have blinded you with visions of glory and power, of a golden future that awaits you in their service. But our lord has shown us more than you could ever imagine. There are no empires awaiting you. In the endless cold between the stars, there is only the hunter and his prey. And those who were once the former and are now the latter. All that remains is the hunt, for only the hunt is eternal.